Not the End of My Tale

 More reading and writing for your students! Come join us for a creative way to encourage literacy. I was asked by a non-profit in Lund, Sweden to hold this workshop for teachers, parents and any other adults who work with children. In an interative manner, I will share my ideas for writing mini books for our students, who will in turn be inspired to read and write.  The workshop is free and on zoom at 4-5:50 pm  (Stockholm time) . Besid es curios ity and an open mind, please bring a blank white sheet of paper, pencil and eraser.  Format of the workshop:  Introduction from 4-4:30 pm  Workshop in small groups to create a story from 4:30-5:00;  and sharing stores and Q&A from 5:00-5:30. The workshop will be held in English and free! It will take place over Zoom. To register, please email Katrina at katrina.taylor@abcsweden.org.

The excitement of getting ready to head off on a trip...   For our virtual Arund the World trip, my students have started to pack their bags, using a sheet where they write their packing list after our class brainstorming. At the same time, they have been writing questions to send to our "virtual host" in California. Here are the questions that they have written, plus one or two added by me. None of the students seem to know anything about California and are very curious. For some reason, they seem most interested in candy, beaches and deadly creatures. I am looking forward to info, tips and opinions that our "virtual host" will be sharing in their film, which will be our "official arrival" at that destination. Here are our first questions: 1. What’s your favorite candy? Is there any special candy in California? Have you been to the m&m store? Is there a candy factory near you? 2. Where is your favorite beach? What do people do there? How often do you ...

 One of the tools I plan to use on our Around the World Virtual Trip is Adobe Spark. The students themselves can make a page which will be part of the final film about each country we visit. Of course, like most teachers, I spend a significant amount of time practicing with a tool before introducing it to my students. Just for fun, here is a video that I made with other students over a year ago. What is your experience with Adobe Spark?